"The vocal and instrumental consort Capilla Flamenca takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V. When Charles left the Low Countries in 1517, he took his best musicians with him in order to accompany him as 'living polyphony' to Spain.

Today's Capilla Flamenca recruits its specialized musicians mainly from Flanders so as to bring to life again the unique timbre of this brilliant 15th-16th century music in its full authenticity. " See website for more information. (ed.)

"The Madison Bach Musicians ensemble is dedicated to presenting the music of Johann Sebastian Bach—as well as works by other great composers of the Baroque, Renaissance, and Classical periods—through performances, lectures, and workshops. Bach’s music was chosen as a focal point because of its outstanding beauty, variety, and profundity and because it speaks with urgency to modern audiences; it is the high water mark of musical expression and craft in western culture. In pursuit of the greatest clarity we perform primarily on period instruments, and our ensemble sizes are typical of those used by Bach himself. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Sarasa is a collective group of international instrumentalists and vocalists who perform classical music of outstanding quality, and bring this music to diverse communities. Through the ensemble's outreach program in adolescent detention facilities, it is dedicated to bridging cultural, aesthetic, and economic barriers and providing incarcerated teenagers with opportunities for growth and enrichment through music.

Sarasa was formed in response to a concert played by its founder, Timothy Merton, in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1997, at the urging of a friend who was a prison volunteer. An inmate who heard that first concert remarked, "When art is well executed, it projects a message that transcends language, culture, and even aesthetic boundaries." Sarasa took these words to heart and since then has been bringing high-quality music to those who ordinarily have little access to it. In addition to its public concerts, the ensemble plays in adult and adolescent correctional facilities, homes for the elderly, mental hospitals, and institutions for the disabled. Sarasa also does three-week residencies in grade schools, using drawing and writing to bring children to a meaningful understanding of classical music.

The name Sarasa is derived from a combination of Saraswathi, the Hindu goddess of art and culture, and the poetic sanscrit word rasa denoting the essence of sound " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Like so many of the best things in life, the birth of Gothic Voices came about almost by accident. Back in 1980 Christopher Page was asked by the BBC to put together a programme of plainchant by the 12th century Abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Record producer Ted Perry tuned in to that broadcast and it so impressed him that he set up what was to become one of the best-selling recordings of pre-classical music ever made: A Feather on the Breath of God — Hymns and Sequences by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen. Since that time, Gothic Voices has recorded a further twenty CDs on the Hyperion label, three of which have won the coveted Gramophone Magazine Award. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"The Telemann Ensemble, based in Townsville, North Queensland, specialises in performing music of the baroque (with occasional excursions into earlier and slightly later music) with awareness of, and respect for, the instruments and performance traditions of the period. The ensemble was formed early in 1999 and has presented concerts and led workshops in Townsville, Atherton, Innisfail, Cairns and Brisbane.“

"The vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants is one of the most renowned and respected early music groups in Europe and throughout the world. Dedicated to the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, the ensemble was founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie and takes its name from a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Les Arts Florissants have been largely responsible for the resurgence of interest in France of 17th-and 18th-centuries more generally.

It is in the field of opera where Les Arts Florissants have enjoyed most success, regularly collaborating with eminent directors and choreographers, such as Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen, Alfredo Arias, Francine Lancelot, Béatrice Massin, Ana Yepes, José Montalvo... They have an equally high profile in the concert hall and on disc. For twenty years Les Arts Florissants have been artists in residence at the Théâtre de Caen.

The ensemble tours widely in France and is frequently invited to perform at prestigious festivals and venues internationally (the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Lincoln Center, the Barbican Centre in London and the Vienna Festival among others).

Les Arts Florissants receive financial support from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, the City of Caen and the Basse-Normandie Region. They are artists in residence in the théâtre de Caen. Imerys is their Principal Sponsor.”

“Founded in the summer of 2007 by harpsichordist John Austin Clark and baroque violinist Nicolas Fortin, Bourbon Baroque is a period instrument ensemble based in Louisville, Kentucky that specializes in the historically informed performance of 17th and 18th century music. Through inter-related arts collaborations and with a sensitivity for the modern audience, Bourbon Baroque performs regularly throughout the year in a variety of venues, often collaborating with other transformative and innovative organizations such as Moving Collective, Choral Arts Society of Louisville, Kentucky Opera, Louisville Youth Choir, and Musica Toscana. Based on a given program, Bourbon Baroque can be heard in chamber, orchestral, and choral/operatic settings. Be a part of Louisville's new vibrant musical initiative and discover the energy and dance as the music of the Baroque resounds in our minds, bodies, and in our slow-sipped bourbon.”

“Winners of the 2008 Midem Baroque Award and the 2007 Classic FM Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Vocal Album for their recording of Handel’s Dublin Messiah (Linn CKD 285), Dunedin Consort & Players, under the combined Artistic Direction of John Butt, Susan Hamilton and Philip Hobbs, performs throughout Scotland and Europe

Under the musical direction of John Butt the group has consolidated its existing strength in the Baroque repertoire. Dunedin's commitment to excellence in both live performances and recordings, coupled with the latest research in historical performance, is complemented by its strong belief in supporting new music. As part of its contemporary strand, Dunedin has commissioned and performed works by living composers - including William Sweeney, Errollyn Wallen, Peter Nelson and Sally Beamish - to complement and enhance the meaning of the old masterpieces.

Dunedin has performed at music festivals in Scotland - including the Edinburgh International Festival -, Canada, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Israel and France, and broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland. …”

“THE GOOD PENNYWORTHS, a vocal ensemble with lute accompaniment from NYC, was founded in 2007 to explore lute songs and traditional folk ballads with dramatic flair. The group’s concert programs feature quartets, duets and solo songs, engagingly staged to bring out the laughter and passion contained in these songs. …”

" Le Triomphe de l'amour is a chamber music ensemble performing Baroque music on original instruments.

Our concerts are more than just music: each is an exploration of music and cultural history, and a window into life in the 18th century. Illustrated pre-concert talks, focused program themes, and insightful program notes help to lead the audience to a deeper appreciation of the music.

Based in Princeton, NJ, Le Triomphe de l'amour presents an annual series of concerts performed in intimate surroundings by members of the ensemble and guest artists. Le Triomphe de l’amour is known for imaginative programming of both familiar and seldom-heard works of the 17th and 18th centuries. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"The ensemble Le Jardin Secret presents the wonderful treasure of Baroque solo vocal literature accompanied by the full colour and beauty of original continuo and obligato instruments. With soprano Elizabeth Dobbin, the ensemble performs a wide range of 17th and 18th century repertoire with dedicated attention to historical context and to the possibilities of creative continuo playing and improvisation.

The music is intimate and highly expressive, exploiting the powerful and contrasting affects of the poetry to which it is set, welcoming the listener into the most secret places of the heart. Le Jardin Secret (in French a metaphor for the heart) is a place of sensual beauty and delight, of mystery and contemplation, of lament, grief and suffering, of amusement and assignation.

The members of the ensemble, which won both the first prize and the audience prize in the Early Music Network International Young Artists’ Competition in York in 2007, are post-graduates of conservatories in Basel, The Hague and Brussels. It is the aim of the ensemble to bring to life the emotive energy of the music, opening the door to the aesthetic world of the Baroque in all its beguiling beauty. " ...

"Luca Pianca is Italian-Swiss musician-lutenist born in Lugano, Switzerland (his specialty is archlute). He studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Mozarteum Salzburg and collaborated with Concentus Musicus Wien since 1982. In 1985 he co - founded Il Giardino Armonico, a pioneering Italian early music ensemble based in Milan. He also served as a lutenist at Zurich Opera House.

Luca Pianca has recorded more than 20 CDs in and out of his work with Il Giardino Armonico, including complete recordings of lute repertoire by J.S.Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. He has partnered with soloists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Eva Mei, Sylvia McNair. Since 1999 Pianca has teamed with viola da gamba player Vittorio Ghielmi to record numerous CDs. Since 2001 he has also collaborated with a contemporary lutenist-composer Roman Turovsky-Savchuk, whose works he premiered at several international festivals (Urbino, Salamanca, Paris, Vilnius inter alia).“ (Wikipedia)

“Vittorio Ghielmi is a viola da gamba player, born in 1968, in Milano, Italy. Vittorio has performed in the most important concert halls of Europe and the USA as a soloist with orchestras such as Il Giardino Armonico, Wiener Philharmoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra London. He teaches viola da gamba at Conservatorio Luca Marenzio di Brescia.

Vittorio Ghielmi is the founder of Il Suonar Parlante ensemble (consort), playing with famous composers and jazzists (Uri Caine, Don Byron, Kenny Wheeler). He published a viol tutorial (in collaboration with Paolo Biordi, Ut-Orpheus Editions, Bologna) and also unedited viol music (Ed. Minkoff, Fuzeau).“ (Wikipedia)

"The Ensemble Villancico was formed in 1995 for the purpose of performing and spreading the renaissance music collection "Cancionero de Upsala", and is conducted by Peter Pontvik. The ensemble has given more than a hundred concerts, in 25 countries (Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Baltic states and Latin America). " See website for more information. (ed.)

"Concerto Caledonia is Scotland’s early music group, bringing to life the classical and traditional music of the nation’s history.

The group’s seven CD recordings include Robert Burns songs in their original versions, classical symphonies from Fife , early Scots fiddle music, and the unique sound of 18th-century Scottish-Italian crossover. Its contemporary recordings include music by Frank Zappa, Astor Piazzolla, Daniel Johnston and The Buzzcocks. The album Mungrel Stuff was a Sunday Times Record of the Year, and besides appearing regularly on BBC Radio 3, the group has also been broadcast on Radios 1, 2, and 4. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"The Baroque ensemble Les grâces formed in the spring of 2008 in order to explore seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music. The ensemble’s performances are equally inspired by the four young performers’ passionate musicianship, as well as their collective study of historical performance practices at leading conservatories in Europe and the US.
The name Les grâces stems from a long literary and artistic tradition. The number of graces varies in different depictions, but there were usually three. Daughters of Zeus and Hera, they were representations of brightness (Aglaia), joyfulness (Euphrosyne), and bloom (Thalia). Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century artists frequently depicted them as nude females, united by a sash, representing harmony. Taken as general symbols of love, beauty, and fertility, they are often accompanied by Cupid or Mercury, their male counterparts. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Inspired by Romance lyrics (reverdies) celebrating the return of Spring, the ensemble laReverdie was founded in 1986 by two pairs of sisters, all singers and instrumentalists, with the intent of exploring the musical repertoire of Europe from the High Middle Ages to the end of the 14th century.

The painstaking attention to authenticity with which laReverdie prepares its programs is only one of the numerous means through which the ensemble strives to communicate the vitality, meaning and unaffected harmony of everything it presents to its audience. A particular attention is given to the wide and mostly unexplored repertoire of "sacred theatre": liturgical dramas and dramatic liturgy, collective representations, manifestations which evoke the religiousness of an age whose echoes are not extinguished yet. The aim is not so much to meticulously catalogue a collection of archaeological relics as it is to faithfully reconstruct the musical heritage of the Middle Ages as a living fragment of a culture long since past but not lost.

laReverdie has enjoyed the regular collaboration of various other musicians: among the others Doron David Sherwin, one of the leading specialists of cornetto, as well as a versatile arranger, singer and percussionist. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Since its inception in 1982, Sonnerie, formerly Trio Sonnerie, has evolved into one of the most imaginative, flexible and dynamic period instrument ensembles in the country. It is directed from the violin by Monica Huggett, world-renowned for her expressive and impassioned performances.

The group's unusual versatility means it can expand from a trio of violin, viola da gamba and keyboard, into a full chamber orchestra. Recent recordings include the 2002 Gramophone award winning CD of Biber violin sonatas and the Bach Violin Concerti for Sanctury Classics, discs of Handel's Op.2 trio sonatas and organ concertos (Avie) and the Mystery sonatas by Biber (ASV). More details can be found on the discography page.

Sonnerie has performed internationally at all the major festivals and concert halls - recent highlights have included the Cheltenham, Innsbruck, Nordic Baroque, Radlovica (Slovenia), Koethen Bach and Aldeburgh festivals, as well as performances in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, York, Glasgow and at the Wigmore Hall in London. Visit the concerts database for details of future engagements. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Performers of Medieval & Renaissance Music ... The Everyman Guild was founded in 1977 and is an ensemble of friends (none an original member) who sing and play a wide variety of early instruments.

Performing in renaissance costume, we recreate early dances, and use poetry and drama to build informative, theatrical and engaging programs. The simple elegance of this music, with its complementary melodic lines, clean, spare harmonies, poetic texts and engaging rhythms make it relevant and accessible today. An Everyman Guild concert is music sung and played by a small group of musicians who work together closely on interpretation, and who know each other well. This offers the musicians and the audience a personal and direct musical experience. Renaissance music is an authentic living history of people of the past, and perhaps the most intimate way we can connect with them. We hear in their music the same elemental feelings, emotions, and rhythms that we experience in our own lives. Come with us into the Renaissance, and be moved to a deeper understanding of our world today. " See website for more information. (ed.)

“The Sydney Consort is one of Australia’s most energetic music ensembles devoted to early music of the 17th and 18th Century. Originally consisting of three members the group brings together Australia’s finest musicians and singers to a small chamber orchestra of up to fifteen performers. Formed in 1997 and led by artistic directors Monika and Stan Kornel, the Sydney Consort is an ensemble dedicated to bringing beauty and wisdom of Baroque music to a rapidly growing audience. The ensemble has performed music ranging from the 16th to 18th Century, as well as contemporary Australian music, and with concert themes such as English, French, German and Italian Baroque, Music and Poetry, and the Johann Sebastian Bach concertos.”

"Acclaimed by the New York Times for its "vital performances" and "robust" playing, Repast is a collaboration of three period-instrument virtuosi presenting vivid renditions of music of the baroque era. Repast members Keri Mikkelson (harpsichord), Amelia Roosevelt (violin), and John Mark Rozendaal (violoncello and viola da gamba), each have active careers in historical performance and bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the trio's programs. Repast enjoys frequent and fruitful collaborations with leading period instrument players and vocalists in order to explore the vast, masterful repertoire of the baroque era. The group's name, meaning a meal or a feast, is a double-entendre: out of the revival of past music comes a delectable, spiritually nourishing experience. ...

In 1985, the Ricercar Consort made their first tour with J.S. Bach’s« Musicalisches Opfer », and is rapidly internationally known for it’s interpretation of cantatas and instrumental music of the German Baroque ; numerous concerts are given with famous artists like Henri Ledroit, Max van Egmond and James Bowman.

For the last few years,Philippe Pierlot has been directing the ensemble, alterning chamber music and orchestral productions ,where eventually the viola da gamba has an important place.

Their recordings encounter enthousiastic reactions both by the public or international press : “De Aeternitate” with the counter-tenor Carlos Mena received the “Diapason of the Year 2002” award and started a fructuous collaboration between Ricercar Consort and the label Mirare directed by René Martin in France. Fantazias for the viols, Stabat Mater by Vivaldi and Pergolesi, or “Valoroso”, italian chamber music by Bertali, Bach cantatas recordings, and recently Bach’s Magnificat (Gramophones’ Editor Choice): with never ending passion the ensemble brings these works to the audiences of the most important ancient music festivals of the world with extreme professionalism.

“Andreas HelmShawm, vocals, yodeling. Born and raised in the area of Mostviertel in Niederösterreich, Andreas Helm received his musical education at the Brucknerkonservatorium Linz and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam , where he studied recorders and early oboes. He is the permanent oboist of the L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, the Wiener Akademie, Concilium Musicum Wien. ..

Simon Wascherhurdy gurdy. Born and raised in Oberoesterreich in a family known for its folk music tradition, Simon Wascher studied hurdy gurdy with Valentin Clastrier, Gilles Chabenat, Matthias Loibner, and Riccardo Delfino. ..”